Lake Mary is a suburban city that is located in the Greater Orlando metropolitan area in Seminole County, Florida, United States, and is located in Central Florida. The population was 16,798 at the 2020 census. It is the home of the 2024 Little League World Series Champions.

History

Lake Mary was named after Mary Sundell, the wife of Reverend J.F. Sundell, who settled on the northern shores of the lake. Lake Mary started as a village of two tiny settlements called Bent’s Station (located on the north shore of Crystal Lake) and Belle Fontaine. They were located along the South Florida Railroad which ran between Sanford and Orlando.

The area was an agricultural community and early settlers included lumbermen, turpentine workers, families from Fort Reed (Sanford) who had received land grants, and Swedish families, who were mainly orange growers.

By the time the area became known as Lake Mary, it was developed by a tight-rope walker and chemist named Frank Evans, who settled in the area in 1882. The first Lake Mary Post Office was established in February 1887. Evans built the original Lake Mary Elementary School, along with many commercial buildings and new homes. In 1923, he founded the Chamber of Commerce and he became a Seminole County Commissioner in 1926. The Lake Mary city hall building was created in 1946.

The city incorporated on August 7, 1973. Rated by Money magazine as the #4 best place to live in America in the August 2007 issue.

It has a history museum in the Lake Mary Chamber of Commerce Building.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (10.96%) is water.

Lake Mary is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is approximately 19 miles from Orlando, Florida.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable"

|+Lake Mary racial composition<br> (Hispanics excluded from racial categories)<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)<br>

!Race

!Pop 2010

!Pop 2020

!% 2010

!% 2020

|-

|White (NH)

|10,641

|10,898

|76.99%

|64.88%

|-

|Black or African American (NH)

|642

|1,027

|4.64%

|6.11%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native (NH)

|32

|13

|0.23%

|0.08%

|-

|Asian (NH)

|822

|1,619

|5.95%

|9.64%

|-

|Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)

|4

|16

|0.03%

|0.10%

|-

|Some other race (NH)

|26

|106

|0.19%

|0.63%

|-

|Two or more races/Multiracial (NH)

|247

|667

|1.79%

|3.97%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|1,408

|2,452

|10.19%

|14.60%

|-

|Total

|13,822

|16,798

|

|

|-

|}

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Lake Mary had a population of 16,798. The median age was 44.5 years. 19.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 90.7 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 6,694 households in Lake Mary, of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 55.5% were married-couple households, 15.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 13,822 people, 4,696 households, and 3,686 families residing in the city.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census,

In 2000, there were 4,199 households, out of which 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.8% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were non-families. 16.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.08. and 1 library in the greater Lake Mary area.

Elementary schools

  • Heathrow Elementary School
  • Crystal Lake Elementary School
  • Lake Mary Elementary School

Middle schools

  • Markham Woods Middle School
  • Greenwood Lakes Middle School

High schools

  • Lake Mary High School

Business and industry

thumb|right|Lake Mary Operations Center

The American Automobile Association, AAA, National Office is located in Lake Mary and is one of the largest business employers in the area. Also located in Lake Mary is the new Verizon Financial Center, Mitsubishi-Hitachi Power Systems along with multiple other nationally known companies. On a smaller scale, Scholastic Book Fairs, the book fair division of Scholastic Corporation, is headquartered in Lake Mary. In addition, the Orlando TV stations WTGL as well as WOFL and sister station WRBW (by way of Fox Television Stations) have studios located in Lake Mary. All of these are visible along Interstate 4. Prior to Emmis Communications selling WKCF to Hearst-Argyle (now Hearst Television), WKCF's studios were located in the studios that is now the studios of WTGL, before moving with now-sister station WESH in Winter Park.

Dixon Ticonderoga, one of the world's largest producers of pencils and art supplies, has put its headquarters in Lake Mary. Accesso, an English technology firm involved in the leisure industry, has its North American headquarters in Lake Mary, employing 220 people locally as of 2018.

Top employers

According to the City's 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! #

! Employer

! # of Employees

|-

|1

|Deloitte Consulting LLP

|2,100

|-

|2

|Chase Bank Card Service

|1,800

|-

|3

|Seminole State College of Florida

|1,455

|-

|4

|Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

|1,325

|-

|5

|Verizon Corporate Resources Group

|1,296

|-

|6

|Convergys

|1,100

|-

|7

|American Automobile Association

|873

|-

|8

|Universal American

|800

|-

|9

|Agro Power Development, Inc

|650

|-

|10

|CentralSquare Technologies

|500

|}

Notable people

  • Jordan Bender, soccer player
  • Lee Corso, sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN
  • Chris DiMarco, professional golfer in PGA
  • Gigi Fernández, professional Puerto Rican tennis player
  • Rowdy Gaines, Olympic gold medal winner and NBC swimming analyst
  • Aubrey Peeples, actor and singer
  • Keith Rivers, linebacker for the New York Giants in the NFL
  • Toni Tennille, Grammy Award winner, singer, songwriter, author
  • Stan Van Gundy, head coach of Orlando Magic (2007–2012), Detroit Pistons
  • Rickie Weeks, professional baseball player for Milwaukee Brewers
  • Shea Whigham, actor

See also

  • Lake Mary (SunRail station)

References

  • Official site